Don Dickinson
Petty Officer 3rd Class
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2007
- Messages
- 75
Not sure if this is the right section for this type of post, but it looks as good as any ...
Every year i purchase some fishing electronics and other boat equipment.
A couple years ago I purchased the auto trim tabs from Nauticus.
This year i purchased a couple new batteries for my 24volt trolling motor.
Additionally I managed to save enough for a new humminbird 898si depth finder (very cool).
I have a 24v trolling motor from minnkota from about 1998. it came with my boat, so its not a new product, but i have a service story to tell about them.
I had technical problems with each of the above and had to contact customer service. I thought I'd share the experience.
THE TABS
Nauticus: Man are these guys the best. I had a bad bracket or something and the actuator came lose. I called them up. the owner answered the phone. I told him what was wrong and he said "gee that shouldn't happen. i'll send you new parts asap". a few days later the parts arrived and my auto trim-tabs have been working great ever since.
Bottom line: they were terrific. i know the owner posts here (John somethingorother?). they ask the right questions and make sure you're happy with their product.
The DEPTH FINDER
GanderMountain: A month after i had my new depth finder, the gps stopped working. the depth and side-scan were fine. the finder worked like the gps wasn't connected. they would not help me and referred me to humminbird. i'm not happy they didn't stand behind their product to say, "hey bring it in, it's only been am month, we'll give you a new one". mind you this is a $1500 purchase.
Humminbird: has no phone support contact that i see. i had to fill out a web form. it says "may take 2-3 days to get a response". well ... it took 3 days. they told me to check the cable and if i couldn't find any kinks or bad connections to send the whole thing in.
My solution: well, i don't want to be without a depth finder for the next 4-6 weeks or however long it would take them to fix the darn thing (they didn't say), so I decided to take the gps puck apart myself. i found water in it and dried and cleaned it. it didn't seem to work. i found a new one on the web for $80 so i ordered it. before the new one arrived, the old one started to work again.
Bottom line: gander wouldn't exchange the recently purchased defective unit. humminbird doesn't have a phone number where you can talk to someone and wants me to mail them back the defective unit. forum rules against bashing will prevent me from saying how these things make me feel ... but you can guess.
BATTERY
I bought two interstate deep cycle marine batteries for my trolling motor. one of them wouldn't hold a charge after about 3 weeks of use. There is an 800 warranty number for interstate on the side of the battery, but i didn't need to call it. i took the battery back to northern tool. they replaced it on the spot. all they did was lookup my receipt with my credit card and give me a new one.
Bottom line: Interstate provides a phone number for in-warranty customer inquries. Nothern tool backs up their vendors and replaces recently purchased defective products.
Old Trolling motor
I broke the bracket on my old 24v trolling motor (dumb me took off with the motor down). I called minnkota. A person answered the phone and mailed me free of charge a parts list for the old motor i had. apparently they still sell replacement parts for my more than 10 year old motor. I called them back and decided not to purchase the new bracket, but it was very cool the bracket was still available. I was so happy i went out and bought a brand new minnkota trolling motor that was the updated model of the one i broke. now i have a bunch of spare parts from my old motor that will work on the new
Bottom line: Minnkota supports their old motors. You can talk to them on the phone and they'll be very helpful. This is why i bought a minnkota trolling motor to replace the old one.
Every year i purchase some fishing electronics and other boat equipment.
A couple years ago I purchased the auto trim tabs from Nauticus.
This year i purchased a couple new batteries for my 24volt trolling motor.
Additionally I managed to save enough for a new humminbird 898si depth finder (very cool).
I have a 24v trolling motor from minnkota from about 1998. it came with my boat, so its not a new product, but i have a service story to tell about them.
I had technical problems with each of the above and had to contact customer service. I thought I'd share the experience.
THE TABS
Nauticus: Man are these guys the best. I had a bad bracket or something and the actuator came lose. I called them up. the owner answered the phone. I told him what was wrong and he said "gee that shouldn't happen. i'll send you new parts asap". a few days later the parts arrived and my auto trim-tabs have been working great ever since.
Bottom line: they were terrific. i know the owner posts here (John somethingorother?). they ask the right questions and make sure you're happy with their product.
The DEPTH FINDER
GanderMountain: A month after i had my new depth finder, the gps stopped working. the depth and side-scan were fine. the finder worked like the gps wasn't connected. they would not help me and referred me to humminbird. i'm not happy they didn't stand behind their product to say, "hey bring it in, it's only been am month, we'll give you a new one". mind you this is a $1500 purchase.
Humminbird: has no phone support contact that i see. i had to fill out a web form. it says "may take 2-3 days to get a response". well ... it took 3 days. they told me to check the cable and if i couldn't find any kinks or bad connections to send the whole thing in.
My solution: well, i don't want to be without a depth finder for the next 4-6 weeks or however long it would take them to fix the darn thing (they didn't say), so I decided to take the gps puck apart myself. i found water in it and dried and cleaned it. it didn't seem to work. i found a new one on the web for $80 so i ordered it. before the new one arrived, the old one started to work again.
Bottom line: gander wouldn't exchange the recently purchased defective unit. humminbird doesn't have a phone number where you can talk to someone and wants me to mail them back the defective unit. forum rules against bashing will prevent me from saying how these things make me feel ... but you can guess.
BATTERY
I bought two interstate deep cycle marine batteries for my trolling motor. one of them wouldn't hold a charge after about 3 weeks of use. There is an 800 warranty number for interstate on the side of the battery, but i didn't need to call it. i took the battery back to northern tool. they replaced it on the spot. all they did was lookup my receipt with my credit card and give me a new one.
Bottom line: Interstate provides a phone number for in-warranty customer inquries. Nothern tool backs up their vendors and replaces recently purchased defective products.
Old Trolling motor
I broke the bracket on my old 24v trolling motor (dumb me took off with the motor down). I called minnkota. A person answered the phone and mailed me free of charge a parts list for the old motor i had. apparently they still sell replacement parts for my more than 10 year old motor. I called them back and decided not to purchase the new bracket, but it was very cool the bracket was still available. I was so happy i went out and bought a brand new minnkota trolling motor that was the updated model of the one i broke. now i have a bunch of spare parts from my old motor that will work on the new
Bottom line: Minnkota supports their old motors. You can talk to them on the phone and they'll be very helpful. This is why i bought a minnkota trolling motor to replace the old one.